After the approval of the amendments to the law on the Special Court by the Assembly of Kosovo, the first reaction came from the Specialized Chambers based in The Hague. President Ekaterina Trendafilova defended the independence of that court through a video message, stating that criticism of court decisions is legitimate in a democratic society, but no one can dictate to judges how they should interpret and apply the law. Her statement was criticized by Vlora Çitaku, who represents the Assembly in the working group for the drafting of the state strategy on the Appeal procedures for the former leaders of the KLA, but also by the Organization of Veterans of that war.
“Under your leadership, the Special has seriously violated faith in justice. An unfair process, lack of transparency, insufficient accountability and serious deficiencies in oversight. Independence does not put you above the law. The international background of judges is not a certificate of infallibility.“
“To claim that a court has the right to choose the law that governs its activity is not only strange, but also ridiculous. We read these claims in the communique of Mrs. Rosefilova. In Kosovo, laws are approved by the Assembly. The Specialized Chambers themselves exist because they were created by him, so they have no power over the institution that founded them.“, she said.
The Specialized Chambers of Kosovo in The Hague on September 16 sentenced former president Hashim Thaçi, former parliamentarians Jakup Krasniqi and Kadri Veseli and former deputy Rexhep Selimi to 81 years in prison.
